These Italian Easter Cookies, also known as anginetti, are a soft, buttery classic. They're lightly sweet, tender, and finished with a simple pastel icing that makes them feel extra special for Easter.
Why This Recipe is the Best
This recipe stays true to traditional Italian Easter cookies while keeping things easy and approachable. Using powdered sugar in the dough gives these cookies their signature soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture, while butter (not oil) delivers great flavor without being too heavy.
For more Easter Desserts, try our Easter Poke Cake, Easter Dirt Cake, and Easter Cadbury Cookies.
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Key Ingredients
Made with simple ingredients to have the best traditional cookie.
- Almond Extract- We love this recipe with almond extract, but you can also use lemon or anise for a different flavor.
- Powdered Sugar- Use powdered sugar in the dough and in the frosting. The powdered sugar in the dough gives the cookies a light and fluffy taste and texture.
How to Make Italian Easter Cookies
Use these step-by-step instructions as a guide to get the best results. You'll love how simple this recipe is!
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside.
- Cream the sugar and butter. Mix in the egg until just combined.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. You don't want to overmix.
- Roll the dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.
- While the cookies bake, mix the frosting. Divide into three small bowls. Add pastel food dye to each bowl until they are the desired Easter color.
- Once the cookies are baked and cooled, dip the cookies into the frosting. Let the frosting set and serve.
Helpful Hint: Smooth the frosting with a clean finger for a smooth look.
Learn From Us
While testing this recipe, we tried different ways to get the icing on the cookie and found two ways that work the best. One is to spoon some icing onto the top of the cookie, then use your finger to spread it around evenly. The other way is to dunk the cookie into the icing upside down, then give it a little swirl to remove excess icing. Both ways work great and will give you a beautiful cookie.
Top Tip
These cookies should look pale and soft when they come out of the oven-overbaking will dry them out and take away that classic Italian bakery texture.
Recipe
Italian Easter Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 3 cups flour
- ¼ cup powdered sugar this gives them a melt in your mouth texture
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- ¾ cup salted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure almond extract or anise for a more traditional flavor, see note 1.
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk hot, I used whole
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- dye in easter colors see note 2.
Instructions
Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Place the flour, powdered sugar, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened butter and granulated sugar. Beat on medium high for about 1-2 minutes, until it's lightened in color and fluffy. Add one egg and mix to incorporate. Add the remaining 2 eggs and the almond and vanilla extracts. Beat for about 1 minute until well incorporated and light.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low just until combined. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and use a small cookie dough scoop or spoon to make small dough balls about 1-1.5 Tablespoons in size. Roll into balls and place on the parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes until cookies are puffed, the tops are matte and the edges are set. Place on cooling rack to cool completely.
Icing:
- Add the powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons of the milk and the almond extract to a bowl. Mix with a spoon until glossy and all the powdered sugar lumps are gone. Add more milk until desired consistency is reached, see photos above for a visual guide.
- Divide icing into 3 bowls and add food coloring (see note 2 below) to reach desired intensity. Dunk cooled cookies into the icing upside down. Give the cookies a little swirl to remove the excess icing, then place back on the parchment paper to set up. Once set up, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Italian cookies are traditionally made with anise instead of almond. We love the way almond tastes in these cookies but anise is a nice touch too!
- For a more elegant look, we recommend using just the tiniest bit of food coloring to the icing to give it an Easter tint. For a more fun look, add a normal amount for a more intense color.
- This recipe doubles really nicely! We love making a double batch when sharing with family and friends.
Nutrition
Try our other Italian Cookie variations. Our classic Italian Cookie and our Christmas Italian Cookie.
Variations
One of the best things about these cookies is adding your favorite extract to the dough for more flavor. You can flavor them with almond, anise, or lemon, depending on your flavor preference.
Storing Italian Easter Cookies
Store iced or uniced cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. These cookies also freeze beautifully-freeze uniced cookies and glaze after thawing for best results.
FAQs
Italian Easter cookies, often called anginetti, are soft, lightly sweet cookies traditionally flavored with anise and topped with icing, served during Easter.
Yes! Names vary by region and family, but anginetti, uncinetti, taralli dolci, and Italian knot cookies are closely related versions of the same traditional recipe.
Absolutely. While anise is traditional, almond extract is very popular and loved for its mild, sweet flavor.
Yes, a good 1:1 gluten free flour blend works well in this recipe, though the texture may be slightly more delicate.
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